James H. Moorhead Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. Available at Amazon.com In what is my best new read for 2013, James H. Moorhead’s history of Princeton Seminary is a fascinating read of American religious culture, Presbyterian history, and mapping of theological shifts in mainline America. I learned much about how PTS was caught between Old and New School Presbyterianism. J.G. Machen is clearly the villain of the volume, while John A. Mackay is... Read more

John Howard, former Australian prime minister (1996-2007), has a very tantalizing piece on gun control in the New York Times.In the article, he talks about the gun control reforms that he and his government introduced following the massacre of 35 people in Port Arthur in Tasmania in 1996. What stood out was this quote: The fundamental problem was the ready availability of high-powered weapons, which enabled people to convert their murderous impulses into mass killing. Certainly, shortcomings in treating mental... Read more

Since the release of my ebook Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry and John Dickson’s sister volume Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons, a number of responses have been made, especially from within Australia, and the most engaging has been from Peter Bolt at Theological Theology. In one installment, Bolt (who I should add wrote a generous blurb for my Jesus is the Christ book) engages several of the points raised by myself... Read more

In what will surely be the biggest publishing event in biblical studies in 2013, volume 4 of N.T. Wright’s Christian Origins and the Question of God series will be released sometime this year. It will be published in three parts with Paul and the Faithfulness of God comprising the main work, plus a history of Pauline Research in Paul and His Recent Interpreters, and also a collection of Wright’s Paul essays called Pauline Perspectives: Essays on Paul 1978-2012. Wright’s PFG is epic and will... Read more

The latest IVP catalogue has some great stuff in it: Scot McKnight is interviewed about “empire criticism” in regards to the book Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not! Joel Green and Jeanine Brown talk about the second edition of Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. There is a promo of Jason Hood’s book on Imitating God in Christ My own piece, Jesus is the Christ, gets a mention in despatches for its claims about Gospel Christology. And some cool reference works are available... Read more

I just heard on FB that John Dickson’s ebook, Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons, is currently free on Amazon.com if you have a kindle account. John has stirred up a bit of controversy about his claims in Sydney Anglican circles so the book is worth reading to see what the fuss is all about! Read more

Over at  TGC is a nice review of The Apostle Paul: Four Views by Prof. Robert Yarbrough of Covenant Theological Seminary. Yarbrough says in the end: This is an important and telling book. In brief compass it characterizes understandings of the Pauline gospel, along with the hermeneutics and historiographies applied to Paul’s writings, across a wide expanse of Western Pauline interpretation today. This review has highlighted the core of each contributor’s conviction. Perhaps most gripping, however, are the fireworks observed in... Read more

Dear readers, I want to remind you three things about JSPL. 1. It is an awesome journal of Pauline studies. The current issue which is just out, 2.2, is a battle royale on Galatians, apocalypticism, and salvation-history with Martinus De Boer, Jason Maston, and Bruce Longenecker all going toe-to-toe. Plus some other groovy articles too. 2. I know many readers of this blog are postgrad students in biblical studies and professors in biblical studies. Please consider submissions to JSPL in the future... Read more

Great value deal at Amazon.co.uk from a book produced by the NT Group of the Tyndale Fellowship: Only 4.99!  Read more

Before I was a theologian and before I was a paratrooper, I wanted to be a lyricist for musicals (you know, like Tim Rice or Stephen Sondheim). So I love musical theater. I even wrote the lyrics to a few musicals that never quite hit broadway. I can sing the complete score of Les Mis pretty much by heart. I frequently sing the soliloquy’s of Valjean and Javert in the shower (in fact, my students in Scotland and Brisbane will attest... Read more